South Hams will soon be joining a network of marinas and harbours which provide electric charging points, as we join forces with partners to help deliver the Electric Seaway Project.
We are part of a successful consortium which has secured £3.2m of government funding to deliver a marine electric charging infrastructure along the UK's south coast.
Electric Vehicle charging is a key commitment within our 'Better Lives for All' corporate strategy, with marine charging a vital part of our emerging EV strategy and decarbonisation plans which were consulted on earlier this year.
The Electric Seaway is part of the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition Round 3 (CMDC3), which was announced in September 2022, funded by the Department for Transport and delivered in partnership with Innovate UK. As part of the CMDC3, the Department allocated £60m to 19 flagship projects supported by 92 UK organisations to deliver real world demonstration R&D projects in clean maritime solutions. Projects will take place in multiple locations around the UK from as far north as the Shetland Isles and as far south as Cornwall.
As part of the consortium, led by Aqua superPower Ltd and ZPN Energy and other expert businesses and authorities, we will install marine electric charging points in Salcombe's Batson Quay as well as explore technology to store electric battery power for future use. Battery storage technology has a crucial role to play in making sure that the marine industry can be powered by green energy, even when the weather isn't good.
Other members of the consortium include the University of Plymouth and the UK Harbour Masters' Association.
Councillor John McKay, Lead Member for Climate Change and Biodiversity, said: "The Electric Seaway Project is just one of the many ways we are working with partners to address the issues we face around climate change within our marine environment. By working together with expert organisations such as Aqua superPower and ZPN Energy, along with our consortium partners, we can put in place infrastructure which will support our local marine economy in its journey to becoming a clean marine industry within Salcombe and beyond.
"This will also support our climate change ambitions of becoming truly Net Zero across the District by 2050."
You can find the full media release from our partners Aqua SuperPower here.
Further information on the Council's EV Strategy is available on our Climate Change site.